Our 'Diary of a Business Associate Intern' series is designed to give you an inside look into the life of Google interns based all over Europe. Today, the spotlight is on Veronica Velo from Spain, who is a Business Associate Intern with YouTube in Google Madrid.

For many workers and interns, getting up on a Monday morning is a very tough moment. Early in the morning the alarm clock rings and unwillingly wakes you up, starting another long week that doesn’t end until Friday. Many people go to work because there is no other choice. Well, this is not what happens to me!

The end of my second month at Google is rapidly approaching and yet it feels like I’ve just arrived. Time flies by when you are having fun! Until the end of August, I’ll be interning in the YouTube team in Spain. In September, I will begin the last year of a double Bachelor´s Degree in Law and Business Administration and Management in the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid.

Every Monday (and every day) the alarm sounds, I snooze five more minutes (or 10), I wake up and drive to one of the tallest buildings in the most important and central streets of Madrid (Paseo de la Castellana) where the Google offices are located. An amazing and delicious breakfast is waiting in our restaurant. I have to say that my breakfast routine has changed a lot, from having an unhealthy breakfast to having a real “Breakfast at Tiffany's”, which completely changes the way I start my day!

After charging batteries, my workday begins as a Business Associate Intern. Not only do I have the chance to work in a company like Google, but also to be working as part of a team like YouTube Partnerships. I am learning a lot both professionally and personally. It is an incredible team where, from the first moment, they have made me feel a real part of it. I am discovering more about the incredible and diverse content online around the world.

On a daily basis, I analyze and investigate multiple projects I have been assigned. During the last month I have been evaluating the different types of content Italian and Spanish users watch on YouTube. For the last portion of my internship, I will be given new challenges! Some days I also attend meetings, events or video calls using Hangouts, where I can really see how this sector works. Coffee breaks, delicious meals and ping pong games are always present. And yes, I watch a lot of videos!

This is an incredible experience. The culture of the company and the desire to do cool things that matter is unique. I encourage everyone to apply! When I registered my application I couldn’t believe I was going to learn and enjoy so much at the same time. For this experience, and much more, is the reason that I wake up every morning happy and highly motivated!

Hasta la vista!!

Interested in becoming a Google intern? Fill out this form for further info on the 2014 Google Summer internship programme in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Please note: This is a speculative application. You will be contacted once the application process for next year’s programme goes live.

EEA work authorization is required for roles supporting EEA markets.

For resume and interview tips before you apply, check out this Hangout on Air. Additionally, please find up to date information on all job and internship postings in EMEA on our job site, and learn more about how the hiring process works.

Post content Posted by Sarah Henderson, Student Development Programs Team

For our today's 'Better Know an Intern' post, meet Zorah Fung, a software engineering intern on the Google Docs Team in New York. Zorah is a rising senior at the University of Washington, double majoring in computer science and interdisciplinary visual arts. Fun fact about Zorah: one of her life goals is to own and be able to play every musical instrument in the world. She's already accumulated about 20!

1. Of all the companies to apply for, why did you want to work at Google?
Googlers are known to be incredibly smart and talented. But more importantly, they are enthusiastic, caring and passionate people. The work environment is very collaborative, and I’m really drawn to that. You can find interesting and challenging problems at any tech company, but I really think the people here set Google apart.

2. In what way(s) has Google impacted you, and how have you left an impact at Google?
At Google, you’re not just impacting the company, but impacting the millions of people that use Google products. I work on the Google Docs frontend, which means that I get to create features that users around the world see and use every day. Being given that much responsibility is both motivating and inspiring.

3. What is the most interesting/exciting thing that you have been able to do as a Google intern? Your “Magic Moment”?
During my first Google internship last summer, I was asked to design a Google T-shirt for the University of Washington Computer Science and Engineering department. As someone who has always dreamt of being a Google Doodler (the people who draw the doodles on the front page of Google), I was ecstatic to take on this project and draw a doodle of my own. The shirts became quite popular, and even ended up on GeekWire!

4. Aside from working for Google, what kinds of organizations/clubs/activities are you involved with in your community / around your school’s campus?
For the past two years, I have been a TA for the Intro Programming courses. I’m also heavily involved with Computer Science K-12 Outreach programs, including volunteering in a middle school classroom to help develop lesson plans and work with students to get them excited about computing. Additionally, I am chair of ACM-W (the Association of Computing Machinery, Women’s Chapter) at UW. We work on building a welcoming and supportive environment for women in the CSE department.

5. What types of lessons/skills have you learned at Google that you will take back to school after this summer ends?
I’ve met some of the most amazing people here at Google. Both my mentor and my host have been so encouraging and supportive, and have allowed me to grow not just as an engineer, but as a person. I think my main takeaway from the summer is to be confident in yourself. It’s a cliche (and even odd) piece of advice to get at a tech company. But I think it’s really easy at an internship to get stressed out, focus on impressing people, and worry about what people are thinking about you and whether you’re doing good enough. It’s neither sustainable nor productive.

5. Any advice for students interested in being a Google intern?
Be passionate and ask questions. Being a good intern isn’t about knowing a lot, but growing a lot. (I know, super corny advice.) No matter where you are in your education, or how long you have programmed, you should always focus on working hard, learning, and constantly improving. If you do these things, you’re going to be successful.

What happens when you give hundreds of student teams across the world an AdWords online advertising budget of US$250 and three weeks to help a local business improve their marketing campaign?

You get the annual Google Online Marketing Challenge(GOMC), which is now in its sixth and most competitive year yet. Over 12,000 students from 80 countries and territories participated in this year’s challenge and the results are in.

I. AdWords Awards

Global Winner
The Global Winning team comes from the University of the Philippines in the Philippines, under Professor James Ryan Jonas. The team of Jeanina Melissa K. Tee, Martin Joseph Alexandre R. Gonzaga, Wesley Paul S. Cortez, Francis Louie M. Karunungan, Nigel Willamson T. Lee and Erika Kathleen A. Uy worked with “Sun Cruises Philippines”, which specializes in providing ferry as well as tour services to Corregidor Island.

Regional Winners

The Asia Pacific Winner comes from Asian Institute of Management, under Professor David Gulliver Go in the Philippines. The team of Kaushal Pilikuli, Madhu Konanur Venkataram, Sangamesh Desai, Matthew Chua and Pratik Piyush worked with the “Happily Unmarried” based in India, specializing in selling unique lifestyle products.

The Americas Winner comes from the University of Houston in Texas, under Professor Steven Koch. The team of Heather Nguyen, Jason Ruth, James McLellan and Adam Jalfon worked with “Children’s Museum of Houston”, a non-profit with the mission of “Transforming communities through innovative, child centered learning”.

The Europe Winner comes from the Turku School of Economics in Finland, under Professor Joni Salminen. The team of Nina Tapiol, Iida Vanhanen, Saana Häkkinen, Veera Engren and Laura Aho worked with gTIE, a Finnish designer of innovative and stylish design neckwear and fashion accessories.

The Middle East/Africa winner comes from the Mansoura University in Egypt, under Professor Heba Mahmoud Elsabaa. The team of Ahmed Ali Abdelbakey Ali, Ahmed Mohamed Elzahy, Bahr Yassien Ahmed worked with Aldaryan, a foundation for the free distance learning academy.

II. Google+ Social Media Marketing Awards
We’re also pleased to announce the winners of the second ever Social Media Award, awarded to the GOMC team that runs the best Google+ page for their company or organization.

Global Winner

This year's global winner comes from James Madison University under Professor Theresa B. Clarke. The team of Lindsay Hayes, Shay Meadows, Lauren Mason and Cortney Marchetto
worked with Valley Preferred Cycling Center.

Regional Winners

The Americas Winner comes from Pepperdine University, under Professor Brian Hemsworth. The team of Ian Garcia, Casey Chock and AC Wichstrom worked with Shane’s Inspiration, a a non-profit organization, which builds inclusive playgrounds for children of all abilities.

The Europe Winner comes from Poznan University of Economics in Poland, under Professor Wojciech Wiza. The team of Adrian Gasiński, Ilona Sadłowska, Hanna Pietruszyńska, Marta Musiał, Olga Żytkowiak and Maciej Żytkowiak worked with Kino Muza, one of the oldest cinemas in Poznan (Poland).

The Middle East/Africa Winner comes from Bethlehem University in the West Bank, under Professor Nadira Alaraj. The team of Hind Abu Shkhadim, Lina Sleib, Margaret Al Sous, Ala' Suboh and Laila Elzoghier worked with TAM, a non-profit for empowering women through media.

There was no APAC winner this year as no team in this region met the requirements to compete.

III. Social Impact Awards

This category recognizes the GOMC teams that made an outstanding difference to their non-profit partners via superb online marketing campaigns.

1st Place is awarded to Jeremy Vogan Joshua Baugher, Scott Guengerich, Melissa Allen and Baris Bilek, who were taught by Professor Theresa B. Clarke at James Madison University in the United States. The team partnered with The Augusta Regional SPCA, an animal rescue shelter.

2nd Place goes to Lennart Kiefat, Aurelija Vaitkute, Svenja Bierwirth, who were taught under Professor Tobias-Benedikt Blask from Leuphana Universität Lüneburg in Germany. This team partnered with Futurepreneur e.V, a non-profit educating children and young people about being self-employed.

3rd Place is awarded to Chris Foster, Carla Reese, Kelcey Troxell, Xavier Pickett, Craig Honeycutt and Dale Richards, who were taught by Professor Theresa B. Clarke at James Madison University in the US. This team partnered with the Virginia Quilt Museum, a non-profit institute dedicated to celebrating and nurturing the quilting heritage of Virginia.

Our 'Diary of a Business Associate Intern' series is designed to give you an inside look into the life of Google interns based all over Europe. Today, the spotlight is on Ben Butler from Ireland, who is a Business Associate Intern with the Marketing team in Google London.

I’ve tried writing this blog a number of times, and I found it surprisingly difficult. Google isn’t hard to write about: the beautiful offices, brilliant people, and bountiful free food pretty much sell themselves. What is hard, however, is writing about them without honest descriptions sounding hyperbolic. But I’ll give it a go.

My name is Ben Butler and I’m an intern at Google.

This is from a few years back, but it pretty accurately conveys my excitement when I heard that I would be interning at Google this summer.

I’m from Dublin and I’ve lived there all my life. Ireland is a great place to grow up. As a kid, I did a lot of acting - and some sport. While sport didn’t go too well (the highlight was Under 5’s Tennis Player of the Year), I really got into acting. When I got to college, I swapped the stage for the podium: representing Trinity at the European and World Debating Championships.

I’m two years into, and halfway through, my Law and Business degree. Trinity is a brilliant university, with ample opportunity for people to explore their interests both in and out of the lecture theatres. I’m currently Librarian of the college’s Law Society. Although a bit of an antiquated term, the ‘Librarian’ is the person who keeps the society’s members up to date with everything that’s going on with the society.

As a lot of my interests centre around communicating a message, marketing seemed like a perfect fit. I’m interning with the SMB (Small and Medium Business) Marketing team in London. I focus on Co-Marketing: marketing in partnership with banks, web hosting companies and ecommerce sites.

The best thing about being an intern at Google is that you’re treated like a full-time employee, and given the opportunity to own your own projects. At the moment, I’m working on creating video case studies of a few small businesses’ experiences with AdWords. There are some brilliant businesses out there, and I’m looking forward to showcasing that.

No day here is ever the same, but there are some regularities. When I come in in the morning, I’ll grab some breakfast with my team or some other interns. Then, after a quick double espresso, the day starts. I begin by blasting off a few emails and checking my calendar. Some work, and a couple of meetings later and it’s lunch.

Lunch with Pavel, Alex, Emily, and Chris (behind the camera).

After work I’ll usually head up to the gym or the library (both on the top floor). The view is pretty breathtaking, and it’s a great place to get some stuff done. A couple of times a week, we’ll grab dinner and drinks somewhere after work. At the end of every week, we wind down with some beer and pizza at TGIF (Thank Google It’s Friday). As the office is in the middle of London city, a few of us interns will usually head out for a bit afterwards.

How many interns does it take to make a coffee?

The interns here are some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. They’re from all over the world: Australia, Brazil, Finland, Switzerland and beyond. It’s incredible that we’re all from such diverse backgrounds, and have so many different experiences; yet we get on so well and have so much in common.

Every day has been great, and I have so many highlights - even though I’m only halfway through! The photos are just a taster. Funnily enough, the experience of taking all the photos was actually really enjoyable. It was only when I went looking for photos that I realised we hadn’t taken that many. These are all from the one day (I do change my clothes).

Despite many years of training (Under 5s Tennis Champ, remember?), and outfitting myself with a pink headband (for aerodynamic purposes); I failed to make it past the first round of ‘Googledon’ (Google’s Swingball Championship).

For anyone thinking about applying, go for it! If you’re reading this, you’re obviously interested. Well, you probably are. Unless you’re my mom (hi Mom). I never thought I’d make it here, but I’m so happy that I filled out that application form!
I better get back to work, it’s nearly TGIF time.

Best of luck,
Ben

Interested in becoming a Google intern? Fill out this form for further info on the 2014 Google Summer internship programme in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Please note: This is a speculative application. You will be contacted once the application process for next year’s programme goes live.

EEA work authorization is required for roles supporting EEA markets.

For resume and interview tips before you apply, check out this Hangout on Air. Additionally, please find up to date information on all job and internship postings in EMEA on our job site, and learn more about how the hiring process works.

Google’s proud of the contributions women are making to technology and aspires to cultivate the next generation of technical women leaders. On July 12th, 2013, Google hosted the inaugural Google Women in Engineering (GWE) “We Are GWE” Intern Summit at its Mountain View headquarters. Over 170 female interns joined together hailing from 13 of our North American offices, and representing a variety of Google teams like Android, Search, YouTube, Google[x], and many more.

The event kicked off with a Leadership Techmakers panel consisting of some of the top female engineers from across the organization, including VP’s and engineering directors. They shared career advice through stories of trials and tribulations and spent the morning connecting with a room full of the next generation of female techmakers. Shoulder to shoulder participants realized that together they could make a difference.

Interns spent the day in talks with Googlers who, like the participants, were interns who have moved into permanent roles. They had the opportunity to discuss and share ideas on topics like graduate level education, challenges facing female engineers, and how they can have a positive impact on a number of women in tech. United by their passion, abilities, and ambition, the Googlers were emblematic of the many women changing the field of computer science today.

In true Google fashion, the day wouldn’t be over until the group got to let loose and hangout! The day of great connections, impactful topics, and a lot of fun concluded with a large garden party on the GooglePlex patio.

The interns, now armed with a network and knowledge will return to their college campuses inspired to be leaders in engineering, on campus, and in their own communities. We hope that they will continue to contribute to this annual summit as returning interns, full-time employees and role models for the next generation of Google Women in Engineering.

This grant is designed to help cover travel expenses to the 2013 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota from October 2nd - 5th, 2013. As part of Google's ongoing commitment to increasing the number of women in computer science and related fields, it's open to female computer science students or industry professionals living in Europe, Middle East or Africa.

The theme for this year's conference is "Think Big, Drive Forward," and will offer incredible opportunities for mentoring, networking, and technical and career development. Google will pay for successful applicants’ conference registration, airfare to and from the conference as well as accommodation for the duration of their stay.

The deadline to apply is August 22, 2013. Winners will be announced the week of September 4th.

For more information on eligibility and how to apply, please visit this page.

It’s intern season at Google! Interns are located at offices all across the globe, and represent a broad diversity of backgrounds, concentrations and interests. So inspired by Stephen Colbert’s Better Know a District, we’re bringing to you “Better Know an Intern!” The series will introduce you to our interns and get you the scoop on the impactful projects they work on, their interests and passions, and what it’s really like to intern at Google straight from the source.

In today’s post, meet Benedict Liang, a 2nd Year Computer Science Undergraduate in the National University of SIngapore. He is currently an intern in gTech. 1. Of all the companies to apply for, why did you want to work at Google?
The people and the impact it is making on the world. Enough said.

2. In what way(s) has Google impacted you, and how have you left an impact at Google?
I was able to work with brilliant software engineers. I was given guidance through code reviews, discussions, and weekly sync ups. In my opinion, this is the greatest benefit of being in Google.

Was I able to make an impact in Google? Definitely.

My intern project involves engineering an internal tool to help teams visualize and obtain geodata more effectively. This improved the workflow for getting better and more accurate business listings for Google Map users.

3. What is the most interesting/exciting thing that you have been able to do as a Google intern? Your “Magic Moment”?
I got to try out Google Glass! In Singapore! (Just some context, Glass has not been released outside of US yet.)

4. Aside from working for Google, what kinds of organizations/clubs/activities are you involved with in your community and around your school’s campus?
I was a Google Student Ambassador for my school last year. Representing Google (wow), having fun, and getting awesome SWAG, briefly summarizes my GSA experience. Certainly, this does not do any justice to the program. Definitely check out the video, and the program description.

I am also actively involved in NUS Hackers. This is a community of people who mess around with hardware or software with playful cleverness; they are more commonly known as hackers. Being in this community means being with like-minded people (hack&roll, Friday Hacks).

5. Any advice for students interested in being a Google intern?
Optimize for learning. In the context of college, this means taking the right courses, not the easy ones. Taking an algorithms course early in college equates to more interview preparation time and taking a rigorous course means getting yourself acquainted with more non-trivial problems.

6. Favorite micro-kitchen snack?
Emmi Yogurt Drink. It is yogurt without a spoon!

It’s intern season at Google! Interns are located at offices all across the globe, and represent a broad diversity of backgrounds, concentrations and interests. So inspired by Stephen Colbert’s Better Know a District, we’re bringing to you “Better Know an Intern!” The series will introduce you to our interns across the globe, and will get you the scoop on the impactful projects they work on, their interests and passions, and what it’s really like to intern at Google straight from the source.

This summer, the Mountain View office welcomed Samuel Clarke into the Freshman Engineering Practicum program. Although Samuel has participated in previous tech internships at other companies before, he was drawn to Google because it is “the standard for doing everything exactly the right way things should be done...Google seemed like the place to go if you wanted to be surrounded by a huge pool of amazing people who are the experts in their field.”

Throughout his 12-weeks as an intern, Samuel has been working on automated user interaction tests for the Android Google Play app. Essentially, this means that instead of having Googlers manually go into every device to make sure that the Google Play store works, he creates tests to do so automatically. In addition to working on his project, every day this summer, Samuel has made it a point to have lunch with Googlers across various technical departments and VP levels to learn about the work they do. “I don’t think I would have gotten that at another company. The people here are very approachable.” Samuel says the technical as well as interpersonal experiences from this summer have served as a valuable foundation for his future plans; next summer, he hopes to return to Google and work in roles that will help him continue to grow in new areas, particularly with his mechanical skills.

Once his internship is completed, Samuel will return to the Georgia Institute of Technology as a rising sophomore; there he is involved in the school’s programming team, mobile application development group, aerial robotics team as well as a number of religious organizations. Regarding the lessons that he would like to bring back to school with him this fall, Samuel says this: “Google’s goal is to change the world and redefine how we experience our world through software; I want to bring that mindset back to my campus.”

Heading to college? Be prepared for the typical rites of passage: decorating your dorm room, choosing your classes and buying textbooks. And when it comes to buying textbooks from the campus store, some things never change like long lines, limited supplies and heavy backpacks. Or do they?

Rolling out this week, you can now rent or purchase digital textbooks from the Books section on Google Play. We have a long list of publishing partners, and we’re launching with a comprehensive selection of higher education titles from science and mathematics to history and English, and everything in between.

All your textbooks, anywhere you go
With digital textbooks, there’s no need to worry about which ones you have with you and which ones you left in your dorm room. Because your library is stored in the cloud, you have instant access to the titles you need—when you need them—on your Android tablet, phone, iOS device and on the web. Now an overstuffed backpack is a thing of the past with all your textbooks weighing as much as the device you’re reading them on.

Take great notes, stay organized
With the Google Play Books app, you have convenient tools at hand to make studying simpler and faster. You can instantly search within a textbook for a particular word or phrase, bookmark chapters and pages, highlight and annotate key passages and get quick access to dictionaries, translation tools, Wikipedia and Google search.

Rent and save
Need your textbooks for just a semester or two? You can rent any textbook on Google Play for six months and save up to 80% as compared to buying print textbooks.

Our 'Diary of a Business Associate Intern' series is designed to give you an inside look into the life of Google interns based all over Europe. Today, the spotlight is on Tobias Eppler from Germany, who is a Business Associate Intern with the Large Company Sales team (Northern and Central Europe) in Google Hamburg.

Willkommen at Google Hamburg!

It feels quite weird waking up every day with a smile on your face, but since I started my internship with Google this is inevitable. Coming from a small village, with a vast population of cows in the south of Germany, I never imagined that I’d be interning one day for the most innovative company in the world. However, now that I do, it is clearly amazing!

I am 23 and currently studying General Management at WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management in quite a small town. As my university places an important emphasis on internships, I previously worked with Daimler and Porsche. However, I wanted to find something different for this summer’s internship. As with every search for something new in life, or just a PS3 game, I went online and opened the Google engine to search for companies. Then it hit me! Why not Google itself? I’ve always loved technology and wanted to work for a company that was pursuing a bigger purpose than itself.

So I applied and after a couple of interviews with my current colleagues, I got notified that I was selected to join the Hamburg Office within the Sales Automotive team. Since then time has flown by and I am already halfway through my internship. I've had the opportunity to get insights into Google’s daily sales business and integrate fully into the team. Industry analysis, Adwords campaign optimizations, and the creation of engaging narratives for the automotive industry are only a few of my interesting projects. I even got to present some of my work to our customers, so I really got the opportunity to learn and to have an impact.

However, not only is the work itself fun, but the environment is too. Here in Hamburg, I can play sports at the internal gym to burn off the calories I have gained by indulging in the (probably) best cafeteria food I’ve ever eaten. Also, if I get tired of my desk I can just move and work in a comfy quiet room or another area in the office.

It’s also worth mentioning how valuable the Googlers themselves are to my experience. If you like open-minded, friendly, and driven people, you will find them here. My colleagues, for example, take me with them for recreational after-work events and I also meet up with my fellow interns. We bonded quite quickly and are holding weekly lunches and “Google Intern Hangouts”, where we explore the city’s hotspots.

Even though I will still pursue my master’s degree following this internship, I am very much tempted to work for Google later on in my career. Therefore I can recommend that if you are considering an internship with Google - Apply for it! I know that the process may seem intimidating, but give it a shot! Just be yourself.

Fun fact: Hamburg offers a Google Serve week every year, where Googlers can sign up and do charity work. I decided to sew heart pillows for breast cancer patients even though I did not know how to sew at all. My internship taught me more than expected.

Cheers,
Tobi

Interested in becoming a Google intern? Fill out this form for further info on the 2014 Google Summer internship programme in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Please note: This is a speculative application. You will be contacted once the application process for next year’s programme goes live.

EEA work authorization is required for roles supporting EEA markets.

For resume and interview tips before you apply, check out this Hangout on Air. Additionally, please find up to date information on all job and internship postings in EMEA on our job site, and learn more about how the hiring process works.Posted by Sarah Henderson, Tech Student Development Programs

It’s intern season at Google! Interns are located at offices all across the globe, and represent a broad diversity of backgrounds, concentrations and interests. So inspired by Stephen Colbert’s Better Know a District, we’re bringing to you “Better Know an Intern!” The series will introduce you to our interns across the globe, and will get you the scoop on the impactful projects they work on, their interests and passions, and what it’s really like to intern at Google straight from the source.

Over the course of 12-weeks, Aayush Upadhyay has worked with Google’s search team. As an APM intern, Aayush’s role is relatively undefined, therefore he has some flexibility on how he approaches his work. “No one really hands you the steps for how to reach your goal, which is to ultimately launch a product. Being open to approaching people to ask questions has served me very well here.”

Because of the work he is doing, Aayush has gotten the opportunity to speak with many engineers and user interaction designers. “One of my summer goals was to meet interesting Googlers. They’re so nice and very receptive to reaching out to others. They had a lot of good advice and they were always friendly and open.”

Throughout his internship, Aayush says that collaborating with people across teams has been beneficial for him. “It’s been really cool to finally understand the system architecture that I’ve been working with, what is actually happening behind the scenes, and then seeing how all the pieces fit together.”

Aayush enjoys “slacklining” (walking across a line of rope tied between 2 trees) with his other intern friends in his spare time. Upon his return to Yale University, this rising senior wants to continue hosting hackathons and participating in intramural sports. Aayush has also volunteered as a counselor at a local university summer program that brings neighborhood children together through learning and fun activities.

Aayush says this about what he has learned this summer: “At Google I’ve learned that you can be a very good person and still be at the top. It’s so refreshing because here, people are committed to what they’re doing and they’re still a blast to work with.”

It’s intern season at Google! Interns are located at offices all across the globe, and represent a broad diversity of backgrounds, concentrations and interests. So inspired by Steven Colbert’s Better Know a District, we’re bringing to you “Better Know an Intern!” The series will introduce you to our interns who will give you the scoop on the impactful projects they work on, their interests and passions, and what it’s really like to intern at Google straight from the source.

For our first post, meet Samantha Merritt, a software engineering intern in New York. This summer, Samantha not only worked to enhance user interaction with Google Now, but she also created study groups to prepare her fellow interns for their upcoming interviews for full-time technical roles. Click here to read more about Samantha’s summer experience as a Google intern.

Samantha, a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania, was initially interested in becoming “the next great American novelist” through studies in English literature. But her passion for computer science soon led her to Google. “When I was choosing my internship, it came down to the project. Google understood that I had a slightly more narrow interest in engineering and they were able to accommodate that with my project.” Throughout her 12-weeks as a software engineering intern, Samantha and her team worked on projects for Google Now that reinforce user memory through computers and involve user interaction. Even without as extensive of a background in computer science, Samantha attributes determination, passion, and long hours of hard work to her success as an intern. “I’m very passionate about software that impacts users, not just companies; I think that’s a side effect of working at Google.”

In addition to working on her core projects, Samantha collaborated with another intern to create conversion study groups for the technical intern community; in these study sessions, she organized mock interviews, discussions, and talks by full-time Googlers to help fellow interns prepare for their upcoming interviews for full-time offers.

This summer, Samantha says she learned the value of asking questions: “I used to have a hard time asking for help, but when I came to Google, asking for help was such an integral part of my day. Here, if you don’t ask for help, you won’t accomplish anything.”

When back at UPenn, Samantha is an introduction to computer science teaching assistant, a creative writing teacher to younger students in west Philadelphia, and a talented artist. Once her internship ends, Samantha is looking forward to starting her senior year by doing an independent study on generative poetry, portfolio pieces for her fine arts minor, and senior projects.